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Friday, May 24, 2013

Silhouette Cameo: 10 Money Saving Tips

As many of you know, Mr. Modern Typography bought me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas.

Best. Gift. Ever. Now that I've cut 8 million tags on it (slight exaggeration) I feel qualified to throw some money saving tips out there.

Let's do it!

1. Don't buy the Designer Edition software.

You won't need it. Everything you need comes with the machine. Surprisingly, the program is easy to use but is also capable of most of the tasks I use in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Boom, I just saved you $50 dollars.

2. Do buy extras.

Chances are your machine came with an extra mat and blade. I find having 3 or 4 mats helpful when cutting large quantities of the same thing. I prep the extras with the paper I'm going to cut next. This saves me a lot of time, and time is money for me.

The reason you'll need extra blades is that they dull over time. Buy these before you need them so you don't have to pay added shipping charges. By the way, I cannot find a place to buy these items locally, chances are you will also be forced to buy everything online. I prefer Amazon because I have Prime, shipping is quick and I can find everything in one place. Buy mats here, blades here.

3. Buy yourself some Krylon Easy-Tack.

Why? Because the mats don't last forever, which anyone who has had these awhile knows. Instead of constantly spending $15 on a new cutting mat, you can spray the ones you have with Easy-Tack and get the same results. It's $7.59 at Hobby Lobby, but you can use a coupon on it. You'll get multiple uses out of the can, saving tons of money. I'd say I sprayed about 5 mats 10 times. By the way, I am STILL using the original mat that came with the Silhouette. Buy it online here.

4. Move your paper, shapes or mat between cuts.

The reason the mats don't last forever is the adhesive that holds your paper in place loses it sticky. It's even worse if you cut in the same spot over and over. 1 Easy way to do this is to change the orientation of the paper (landscape/portrait) in the program. OR you can move the shapes in the program before each cut. If you are worried about cutting outside the paper, use registration marks. This is my favorite Silhouette feature. If you haven't learned how to use this yet, you should! Last, you can turn the mat 180 degrees and get more use out of your mats.

Update: The latest Silhouette software and machinery makes it more difficult to do this because it won't easily detect mats unless they are in the right spot on the mat. You can still do this with manual registration, and still turn the mat 180 degrees.

5. Avoid the double cut.

This will save both your mats and your blades. The only shapes I've had to use double cut on are my really intricate feathers and headbands for my Thanksgiving headdresses There is some trial and error here, but I'd rather save my blade which costs $11 than a piece of paper that costs me 4 cents.

To take your cut items off the mat, simply bend the mat and the items will pop off.

They stick a little more when the mats are new or right after you spray Easy-Tack, but after that it's super easy to pull things off. I use the squeegee to scrape off any remaining paper, such a tiny circles from holes. Why pay $10-20 dollars for name brand tools when you can pick up a squeegee for a couple bucks at a hardware store or sign shop. I like the roller squeegee because I smooth items onto my mat with the roller side, and pop off small pieces with the scraper side.

7. Switch out your blades for different types of papers.

The same is true for hand held paper punches. When you cut a thicker paper, your blade dulls more. I keep one blade set on 3 and one on 7. I find all paper works with one or the other and switching blades is easy. My very first blade wore out quick.

8. Clean out your blade when it seems dull.

It's easier than you think. You just set your blade to zero. Then twist that little white cap off the end, just below the red line (lefty loosy). Clean out of the goop and paper shreds and give the blade another whirl.

9. Buy through Amazon.

If you haven't noticed already I don't buy anything straight from Silhouette. Its way more expensive. AND I have Amazon prime, so everything ships for free. This is a huge savings for me, and I get everything in 2 days!

10. Design your own shapes.

When we first got the machine, I was concerned about the price of buying additional shapes. I was also concerned about using purchased shapes in my business, did you know you need a commercial license to use them? I decided to design all of my own shapes. It's so much easier than it sounds. Once you see how it's done, you'll realize why the machine is called a silhouette ;)

Here are a couple tutorials on converting images to cutable shapes on the Silhouette.

I agree with most of your tips, but I would buy the Designer Edition again any day. Loading .svg files directly gives much more accurate results than converting png or jpg files. And you can get it for as low as $25 on ebay or with the right code directly from the source.

Thanks for all your tips! I just bought the Silhouette Portrait and LOVE it. After having a Cricut for years, I found I could never get intricate cuts on it. This machine is amazing for that and so many other reasons.You mentioned about buying the squeegee instead of the silhouette items. I also found they didn't work as well for taking cuts off of the mats, so I purchased a set of 3 different sized plastic putty knives for $2 and they also work like a dream!

Thanks for all your tips. I recently purchased the cameo to help with all the little cut outs I needed for invitations, programs, etc. I decided it would be worth the purchase bc I can use it after the wedding is over on cards, etc.

I use the zig blue wide tip glue to restick my mats works perfectly dries clear so i can see where I put it. Also in a pinch you can use a cricut mat in it. I also use an old gift card as my scraper....LOVE IT! Also you can register as an educator and get 25% off at silhouette that includes on the cameo and stuff like that.

Most of your tips sound good, but a must have is the Designer Edition, you can find alot of places for 32. bucks with a 10 gift card, this is a must have to cut SVG's very easily , This is an awesome machine

Thanks for your helpful tips I am NEW to the machine and all the software are a bit confusing and trying to find out what I need and what I don't need. I will keep looking around on how to use this. But thank you

Great tips. I have the Silhouette Cameo with the designer edition software and love it. I agree, don't bother to buy the S scraper, I use an old store card and it works fine. Recently I purchased Aleene's 4oz Tack It Over Fabric Glue to re-tack my old mats and it works fine. Mix 50/50 with water and spread onto the cutting area of the mat with a sponge brush. (found tip on pinterest)

Thanks for the great tips. I had a Cricut and used it a bit but one of my friends owns a Monagramming and such business and she told me how much more useful the Silhouette was for her. Having a small craft side business I decided to sell my Cricut and buy the Silhouette. There's still so much I must learn but your helpful tips will make life a bit easier. Many thanks.

This http://www.silhouetteschoolblog.com/ is thee most amazing website site I have ever come across. It has been and continues to be a massive help in trying to figure out the Silhouette Cameo. This site has no affiliation to Silhouette America. Melissa is extremely helpful and there is nothing she does not teach you about using your Cameo. I dont know what I would do without her help. And its free with generous helpings of free cut files too. May GOD bless Melissa for her generosity.

Hi! I'm from Brazil and I'm so glad to read all you've written! I have a little tip for you too... I don't know if you have this in your country but I use Those little wooden sticks that women use to do their nails to peel off the paper from the cutting mat! It's really cheap and works! I also use them to put some glue into small places! Thank you so much! God bless you!

Can you please provide new information on the squeegee from Tip #6? The link is no longer active. PS - I just ordered the Curio & Mint 2 for 1 bundle with a promo price of $199.99 + free shipping (JUNEDEALS good through 6/29) and can't wait to get started! I've wanted a die cut for a few years now. SOOO EXCITED!